Big Picture

Laura Acres Managing Director Moody's Investors Service

Laura Acres is Managing Director for the Corporate Finance Group for Asia. Based in Singapore, she has overall responsibility for Moody’s corporate ratings and research for the region, managing teams in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo. Laura also spearheads our global Emerging Markets initiative, leading many of our aggregated research based publications in this space and helping to coordinate Moody’s approach to this large and growing area of focus. 

Laura joined the company in 2006 taking a number of Lead Analyst roles for a variety of corporates around the region; she also created Moody’s aggregated high-yield research and outreach initiatives for the Asia Pacific region. She was appointed Managing Director in 2015 and led the Singapore based South & South East Asia corporate rating teams and was then appointed to her current role in 2020.

Before joining Moody’s, Laura worked for Schroders PLC in London and Singapore, and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Singapore, where she specialized in corporate restructuring and recovery throughout Southeast Asia.

Laura holds a BSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Terry Fanous Managing Director, Project & Infrastructure Finance Moody's Investors Service

Terry has over 25 years of experience in credit ratings and bank credit risk management. As a Managing Director, based in Singapore, he leads Moody’s Public, Project & Infrastructure Finance in Asia Pacific. He assumed his position in February 2015.

In this role, Terry oversees ratings teams in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, and Japan which are responsible for Moody’s extensive coverage across the public and infrastructure sectors, including transport infrastructure, regulated utilities,power and social infrastructure.

Prior to this role, Terry spent seven years as an Associate Managing Director and head of corporate, project and infrastructure finance ratings for Australasia, based in Sydney. During that period, Moody’s rating coverage for this region grew substantially to more than 100 rated issuers. In the corporate sector, the analytical team monitored ratings in a wide range of non-financial sectors, such as consumer and retail, industrial, mining, oil and gas, and property, while the infrastructure team covered power, transport, utilities and social infrastructure.

Terry was also previously responsible for Moody’s coverage of the oil and gas as well as mining sectors in Asia Pacific.

Before joining Moody’s in 2000, Terry worked for around 12 years in various risk management and credit origination roles at Westpac Institutional Bank in Sydney. His last position at Westpac was Senior Manager, Credit and Divisional Credit Officer, responsible for approving credit exposures to institutional clients.

Ian Lewis Associate Managing Director Moody's Investors Service

Ian Lewis is an Associate Managing Director for Moody’s Corporate Finance and Project & Infrastructure Finance Groups, based in Singapore.In this role, Ian manages a team of ratings analysts for ASEAN, with a focus on key sectors including autos, chemicals, metals & mining, steel, telecommunications,regulated utilities, transport and social infrastructure.

Prior to being based in Singapore, Ian worked for Moody’s in Japan, Australia and the US.Before joining Moody’s in 2007, he worked for various banks, including Sumitomo Bank, Credit Suisse, St George, and Westpac Banking Corporation.

Ian has over 20 years of experience in credit analysis and ratings across diverse industry sectors and geographies.

Ian holds a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, a Bachelor in Economics from the University of New England, and is also a CPA.

Marie Diron Managing Director, Sovereign Risk Moody's Investors Service

Marie Diron heads the Sovereign Risk Group for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group for Asia Pacific and EMEA. She is responsible for analytical teams covering more than 70 sovereign ratings, 15 Multilateral Development Banks and around 400 sub-sovereign ratings in about 30 countries.

Marie has worked as Moody’s lead sovereign analyst for a number of Asia Pacific credits, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. Marie has also worked in Moody’s Credit Policy, leading a number of macroeconomic analyses, including our regular Global Macro Outlook and other credit research work. 

Marie was previously Director at Oxford Economics, leading the company’s forecasting and scenario analysis service to financial sector and corporate clients, after a number of years at the European Central Bank and Brevan Howard LLP.  Marie received a MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge and graduated from the Ecole Centrale Paris.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik CEO PETRONAS

Tengku Muhammad Taufik, a Malaysian aged 46, holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Finance & Accounting from the Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a Member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). His areas of expertise include project analysis, capital projects structuring and risk management and he has vast experience in strategic planning investment valuations, developing entry strategies for businesses and structuring fit-for-purpose funding requirements as well as developing and executing key stakeholder engagement strategies; with a focus on the oil and gas industry.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik has a long association with PETRONAS. He was a PETRONAS scholar and upon returning from his studies he had been posted to various important roles in the Group. He had served as the Executive Assistant to the late PETRONAS Chairman, Allahyarham Tun Azizan Zainul Abidin and later held numerous leadership roles including as the General Manager / Chief Financial Offer (CFO) - KLCC Property Holdings Berhad , Head, Finance & Risk Management (Gas & Power) and Head, Group Strategic Planning.

Between 2012 and 2018, he served as Deputy CFO and CFO of two public listed companies before becoming a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia who led the firm’s oil and gas practice. In 2018, Tengku Muhammad Taufik returned to PETRONAS as the Executive Vice President and Group CFO and at the same time was also appointed as the Executive Director of the PETRONAS Board. He also currently holds Board positions in PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, PETRONAS International Corporation Ltd as well as PETRONAS Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn. Bhd.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik was appointed President and Group CEO of PETRONAS in July 2020.

Outside his day-to-day responsibilities in PETRONAS as well as board stewardship in the above companies, he is the Chairman of East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) Audit Committee, National Trust Fund and Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) Audit Committee. He is also a Council Member of the ECERDC and NCIA, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Merdeka Award Trust, World Economic Forum (WEF) Oil & Gas Governors Forum and WEF Industry Action Group.

David Staples Managing Director Moody's Investors Service

David Staples is a Managing Director at Moody’s in the EMEA Corporate Finance Group based in Dubai. His responsibilities include managing the analytical teams that oversee the ratings of companies based in the Middle East, Turkey, South Africa as well as Russia and the CIS. 

David has a Masters degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. (1984) and a Bachelors degree from the University of Cincinnati (1982).